The Federal Reserve Emphasizes ‘Strength’ of American Economy While Holding Interest Rates Steady

The Federal Reserve kept short-term interest rates unchanged Wednesday and emphasized the strength of the economy.

From the Fed (emphasis added):

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising at a strong rate. Job gains have been strong, on average, in recent months, and the unemployment rate has stayed low. Household spending and business fixed investment have grown strongly.

All told, the Fed used the word “strong” or some version of it six times in the statement.

Despite this upbeat assessment of the economy, the Fed indicated that it is not changing its expectations about interest rate hikes this year. The market now expects the Fed to raise rates at least once and most likely twice more this year, for a total of four interest rate hikes in 2018.

The Fed also did not mention tariffs or trade in its statement. Recently, Fed officials have said that while anecdotal evidence supports the notion that trade disputes are worrying business leaders, the economic data reveals no tariff-based economic stress.